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Friday, 25 November 2011

Buying Herbs

There seems to be this thought when it comes to buying herbs, a lot of new witches seem to think that all manner of ‘witchly’ herbs must be purchased. Of course saying that you have mandrake root sounds great but truth be told, you more than likely won’t use it all that often. I have mandrake root and I can count the times on one hand that I’ve used it in magical workings.

The trick to buying herbs is knowing your correspondences – and applying them to your purchases. I would have to say that the witch who can be flexible in her approach and isn’t concerned with being able to say she has the more exotic herbs in her chest will have the most success with herbal workings.

The truth is, all you need is this:

Yes, your kitchen herb and spice cabinet. A kitchen witch will tell you that this all you need, every herb and spice can and will work for you in the cooking of food and the cooking of magic. It’s handy to have and although there may be some snobbery about keeping magical and mundane separated, I tend to think that if it works then fantastic!

However there is the likelihood that you will not find chamomile or lavender or rose in your kitchen spice cabinet (although a herbal tea or preserve making aficionado may have these) there are places to purchase them. Ebay is one of my favourite places to purchase herbs, you can generally buy a small amount for a reasonable price, there is also the option of purchasing kits with samples of lots of different herbs. If you are some one who feels they are going to go into herbs full time, there is the option of purchasing through wholesale companies but for this you must have a business number – otherwise you will be paying retail.

The best place (and this is where knowing your correspondences comes in) to buy herbs is the supermarket aisle. Basil is great for seasoning Italian sauces and fresh summer salads but it can also be used in spells for love, wealth and protection as well as banishing negativity. Allspice is great for healing, Clove is a fantastic money herb, Garlic is often used for protection, Ginger for luck and love, even something as simple as Parsley can be used for protection as well as purification. If you can get past the need to have the more exotic herbs in your herb chest, your herb aisle will become the place you go to for herbs.

As for the flower types, if you don’t want to hit the net and buy from eBay, believe it or not, your tea aisle will also provide you with a plethora of flower power. You will find Rose, Jasmine, Lavender and Chamomile in the herbal tea aisle and quite frankly, just those four flowers offer a great whacking list of correspondences. Lavender can be used for Chastity, love, peace, happiness, clairvoyance, longevity, sleep and protection, Rose for Love, beauty, psychic powers, divination, healing, luck and protection, Chamomile for : Sleep, meditation, money, love, purification and luck and Jasmine for Love, prophetic dreams, money, sleep, love, healing, health and meditation. All you would need to do is purchase the tea bags and empty the herbs out as you need them.

Buying herbs doesn’t have to be a stressful or scary experience. It’s quite simple to find them, to buy them and to use them.

But hey! If you’re game, there is always the option of growing the herbs yourself!